If you’re wondering what to read next, think no more! Here are some of great recommendations for you.
Reading Pulitzer Prize-winning books is a journey through some of the finest literature ever crafted. Each year, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction honors outstanding works that capture the essence of human experience, offering profound insights and incredible stories. This collection showcases the diversity and brilliance of authors who have not only captivated readers but also contributed significantly to the literary world.
Prepare to experience stories that resonate deeply, challenge global perspectives, and leave a lasting impact on the mind. Here’s a curated list of Pulitzer Prize-winning books of 2024 that you won’t want to miss.
List Courtesy: The Pulitzer Prizes
Night Watch, by Jayne Anne Phillips
A beautifully rendered novel set in West Virginia’s Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in the aftermath of the Civil War where a severely wounded Union veteran, a 12-year-old girl and her mother, long abused by a Confederate soldier, struggle to heal.
Primary Trust, by Eboni Booth
A simple and elegantly crafted story of an emotionally damaged man who finds a new job, new friends and a new sense of worth, illustrating how small acts of kindness can change a person’s life and enrich an entire community.
No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era, by Jacqueline Jones
A breathtakingly original reconstruction of free Black life in Boston that profoundly reshapes our understanding of the city’s abolitionist legacy and the challenging reality for its Black residents.
King: A Life, by Jonathan Eig
A revelatory portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. that draws on new sources to enrich our understanding of each stage of the civil rights leader’s life, exploring his strengths and weaknesses, including the self-questioning and depression that accompanied his determination.
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom, by Ilyon Woo
A rich narrative of the Crafts, an enslaved couple who escaped from Georgia in 1848, with light-skinned Ellen disguised as a disabled white gentleman and William as her manservant, exploiting assumptions about race, class and disability to hide in public on their journey to the North, where they became famous abolitionists while evading bounty hunters.
Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice, by Cristina Rivera Garza
A genre-bending account of the author’s 20-year-old sister, murdered by a former boyfriend, that mixes memoir, feminist investigative journalism and poetic biography stitched together with a determination born of loss.
Tripas: Poems, by Brandon Som
A collection that deeply engages with the complexities of the poet’s dual Mexican and Chinese heritage, highlighting the dignity of his family’s working lives, creating community rather than conflict.
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, by Nathan Thrall
A finely reported and intimate account of life under Israeli occupation of the West Bank, told through a portrait of a Palestinian father whose five-year-old son dies in a fiery school bus crash when Israeli and Palestinian rescue teams are delayed by security regulations.
Which Pulitzer-winner are you picking up?
